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View Poll Results: How do you rate ("the original") Skeletor figure? (with 10 being the best)

"The original" Skeletor classic figure review thread

The evil Lord of Destruction himself. He-Man's arch enemy. Although other enemies would be added later in the line's life, Skeletor is seen as the ultimate foe in the eyes of many.

Skeletor was the second MOTU figure I bought. I had He-Man, who for a few weeks after I had him, had to make do with fighting imaginary adversaries, or figures from other toy-lines. Over those few weeks, I saved very hard. Finally, the day came when I had enough, and I remember my Mum taking me into the local high street after school one day, and in Owen & Owen's, selecting the figure, and dumping my polythene bag of change on the counter for the cashier. What fun she had, counting through all of those half pennies (wow, that dates it; they've been out of circulation for 23 years now!).
At last, I had the enemy for He-Man to do battle with. I had Skeletor!

Skeletor was a cool figure. He had great armor, including extra waist armor, which complimented his chest armor really well. I loved the colours, a mix of blue and purple. And his face - although it might seem a little tame compared with the 200x version (more of that in a bit), it none-the-less was very well cast, instantly recognisable and memorable.

As many know, there are actually a couple of early variations of the figure.
Very early examples had only the front halves of the boots painted. And some of these had purple trunks, whereas the more common version had all black trunks, matching the belt (the molded on one, not the accessory one).
I have owned about 20 Skeletors in my more recent years of seriously collecting the line, but as yet have to get hold of a 'half boots' version. I did see a half boots and purple trunks version a couple of months ago on e-bay, and have regretted not bidding for it ever since. (See attached photos of a ton of Skeletors when I was sorting out my many figures this last August into which to keep and which to sell.)

As with the original He-Man, I think in many ways that the original Skeletor is the best version of the figure. It didn't need any gimmicks, it was just very iconic on its own.

I really liked Skeletor’s early comic appearances. He was very villainous, and often spoke and acted in a rather Medieval-way. As I’ve mentioned on several other threads, such as the review thread for Castle Grayskull, when I was very young and first got into MOTU, I used to think that Castle Grayskull had once been Skeletor’s (hence the skull face), and the Elders had taken it away from him when he misused its powers; and ever since, Skeletor had been hell-bent on getting it back, and was at war with He-Man for stopping him doing so.

I love Skeletor in the Filmation cartoon series. His voice was excellent, being the perfect way between villainous and pantomime-y. Only in later episodes was he hammed up too much and made too much of a buffoon.

I remember a time, quite late on in the toy-line's life, when the cartoon had finished production but was still regularly shown here in the U.K., that I actually started to get a bit bored of He-Man; particularly in the late episodes of the cartoony, he had been portrayed a bit too squeaky clean, and for a while, I started liking Skeletor more, kind of like how some 'Star Wars' fans dig Darth Vader better than say, Luke Skywalker.

The 200x figure revamp was pretty good, although personally I wouldn't say that it was one of the very best of the new line. My main gripe is that the face - while well updated and looking quite menacing - is far too small, even more so when considering that it is very masked by his hood.
In the Mike Young Productions version of the cartoon, Skeletor was given quite a good treatment, made much more sinister and much more of a force to be reckoned with. Many times I've wondered what this new version of Skeletor but voiced in the classic 1980s style would be like.
I wasn't too sure about the Keldor treatment. I liked that they gave him a back-story, but have to confess to personally quite liking Skeletor to be "a demon from another dimension" (Infinita). I might have liked to Keldor story better if it was done mysteriously, revealed as a possibility to his past as in "The Search for Keldor" mini-comic (as opposed to being shown in the very first few minutes of the new cartoon).

I give Skeletor a top-scoring 10 out of 10.

Well, there is loads more that I could say, but I'll let the thread get running a bit first.

I'd like to hear your own comments, memories, and anything else to do with the character...

yea Skelertor, was the was the most awesome bad guy there was. the compleat oposite of He man. the lord of destruction Skelertor. and the best part about Skelertor, was you can realy use a good inmagination with skelertor. he could be from an undead race of warlock concurers. witch is the way I played, or he could have been a once blue skined eterniean. who had been magicly healed after a horible acident. the sky was the limit for Skelertor. I give a perfect score of 10

This is a classic figure that was one of the first I had to buy to rebuild my childhood collection. I gave him an 9/10! But I rarely give anything a perfect 10 (unless the figure's action was serving me daquiries on a tropical island... that'd definately give him a 10 ranking) .

The original Skeletor was hard to get. I waited until my older relative who had a few figures gave up MOTU and gave me the original Skeletor and Man-E-Faces. I was wrapped, my Battle Armour Skeletor was replaced by a real Skeletor. I was never a fan of the variants of Heman and Skeletor Mattel released.

I thought Skeletor owned the dark half of the sword of power because of the slot in Heman's and Skeletor's swords and that they could combine to make a "super" sword.

One thing I did not like about the Staff of Havoc was that it did not remain straight, it bowed due to the plastic it was made from, appart from that it is one of the best MOTU weapons.

Skeletor is my favorite character and my reactions to him are almost identical to what I said in the He-man post.

Very simple design that make sit great. Like He-man, I got a Skeley in the 3 Pack (I got both a heros and Villains on that year), but somthing happened to it and growing up playing,m I only remember my Battle Armor Skeletor with a broken wheel. And upon getting into online collecting, when I got a complete skeley in the mail, I was even more extatic than when I got He-man. 10!! Only because I can't give him 100!! Easilly my favorite figure.

"I won Dungeons and Dragons! And it was advanced!!" -Pierce Hawthorne-

Everyone knows Skeletor rocks. I'm not gonna add anything new because it's just commonsense to love him. However I refrained from giving him a perfect ten because Mattel improved their characters later in the line, and I greatly enjoyed other versions of Skeletor more than the original. (You know which ones they are).

That being said though, the original is still the iconic best. You just can't beat that image. Skeletor - we love you.

Not to hijack the thread, but I own a Skeletor half-boot variant. I bought it right off of the shelves back when the line was first released. I have attached a few pics as well.

On to Skeletor, this is my favorite version of him. I thought his staff was cool and the 2 armor pieces were just the right touch. The fact that his sword connected to He-Man's only sealed the deal in my eyes. I clearly remember putting him in the Greyskull throne first before the good guys, he just seemed to belong there.

I love the original Skeletor. My original Skeletor was butchered by me. The figure itself is fine, but I destroyed the armour and the sword. Back in the days I also didn't like the variants, but now I'm beginning to apreciate them. Especialy Terror Claws.

Was there a reason for the Blackstar-like swords? A special story to go with it.

The original Skeletor was AMAZING. I had so much fun playing with him back in the day. The only thing that didn't grow on me was his toy face. Its just my opinion & I'm certain alot of people wont agree with me. But the all in all it was an amazing figure.

Skeletor's one of my favourite characters and figures of MOTU, and was the 3rd figure I got. His armor and his belt work well with the figure and the colour scheme is eye-catching. Also I really liked the Havoc Staff (which was always bent) and purple sword.

I still have my first Skeletor packed away as his legs are on the verge of finally letting go and he's lost his waist action and his blue skin has turned a bit green. I have a newer Skeletor on display now.

I still have my first Skeletor packed away as his legs are on the verge of finally letting go and he's lost his waist action and his blue skin has turned a bit green. I have a newer Skeletor on display now.

Yes, it is quite a common problem that torsos on many Skeletors have turned green over the years. Oddly, it only seems to affect some and not others - maybe it is to do with the exact plastic mix, or country of origin, or something.

I've had my original Skeletor sitting on the shelf above my computer here, directly in front of patio doors, for some years now, and it hasn't been affected and is it's original colour.
That said, I've also got my original Faker on display, and whilst he doesn't seem affected either, I should probably move him, I don't want to risk it with him.

As much as the original He-man figure was a very well depiction of a heroic barbarian, Skeletor is a pretty good representation of malevolence in plastic form.
Skeletor is the perfect nemesis for He-man, and I think a lot of his appeal (and therefore He-mans’s) work by opposition with He-Man. He-man is lively, good and sport bright, warm color. Skeletor is undead (or look like in any case), evil and sport cold, bluish color. He has a freaking satanic goat skull on his staff, and a suit mixing element of a doomed Centurion, the grim reaper and a Frazetta type evil sorcerer guy. As much I like the other figure design they made of him, I think the first one with the roman accent on his costume made him more like a death general more than a warrior, and for this he remain my favourite.

He’s all evil, and his name, just like the rest of the figure, perfectly summon the character in maximum efficiency and economy. How can you forget the name of Skeletor?

Skelly was the first MOTU fig I got. It was 1983, I was in the hospital to get my tonsils and adenoids removed and my cousin brought me this wonderful figure one day. He told me to learn all of the characters' names on the back of the card until next time he'd come visit. And that I did

As much as the original He-man figure was a very well depiction of a heroic barbarian, Skeletor is a pretty good representation of malevolence in plastic form.
Skeletor is the perfect nemesis for He-man, and I think a lot of his appeal (and therefore He-mans’s) work by opposition with He-Man. He-man is lively, good and sport bright, warm color. Skeletor is undead (or look like in any case), evil and sport cold, bluish color. He has a freaking satanic goat skull on his staff, and a suit mixing element of a doomed Centurion, the grim reaper and a Frazetta type evil sorcerer guy. As much I like the other figure design they made of him, I think the first one with the roman accent on his costume made him more like a death general more than a warrior, and for this he remain my favourite.

He’s all evil, and his name, just like the rest of the figure, perfectly summon the character in maximum efficiency and economy. How can you forget the name of Skeletor?

10- 10!

Summed the figure up perfectly. I loved all of those influences too. And the colours - dark and cold, as opposed to He-Man's bright and warm, as you said. They really did work well.

And even non-MOTU fans instantly know the name "Skeletor". It's right up there with Darth Vader.

Skeletor was my 3rd figure. A present from my Grandma before she left on her yearly trip to see my dad's sibling who lived out of state. I was really impressed with Skeletor. I love scary creepy things. Oh, and his belt made a neat crown for Faker. He got a ton of use as Fakers right hand man. I've gone through 3 of him. His bands seems to beak easily. Oh and with this thread became aware of the purple shorts version, which I now own. So, If anyone has some spare gear for him.... e-mail me.

I thought Skeletor was the coolest when I first got the original wave of MOTU figures. His presence in the mini-comics was part of what drew me in... he came off as a real menace and was sooo hungry for the power of Castle Grayskull. I liked the "early days", when he didn't have a Snake Mountain and only had Beast Man and Mer-Man aiding him, henchmen that served him seemingly because they feared him. There was none of that Filmation goofiness, and he wasn't so easilly foiled. One of my favorite panels in the early mini-comics is of Skeletor waving the joined halves of the Power Sword over an old scattered bunch of weapons inside the castle, bringing them to life and having them attack He-Man (sans protective armor). It tapped into all that spooky haunted house "suits of armor coming to life" kind of stuff I was also really into as a kid. It wasn't Skeletor using freeze rays to freeze people (or shooting ropes from his fingertips), it was Skeletor using sharp crusty weapons to attack his foes. Awesome. The action figure itself? I love it from head to toe. An awesome iconic sculpt. The bat insignia on the armor and the ram-head staff and the skull visage makes him totally like something out of an old horror movie. And the fact that this was the lead villian in a children's toy line (and eventual cartoon)... I mean, how could you not love that? I think it's why I loved Scare Glow so much when he came along years and years later. With the glow-in-the-dark feature, the fact that he was a glowing skeleton sporting a halberd and a fiendish cloak... so simple, yet so effective. I wish Mattel had injected more of that spook factor into the Masters Of The Universe toyline.

Skeletor was the best figure from the original line. I agree that he had the best weapons and accessories. I loved the fact of his original roman belt that went along with his figure. THe only thing I didn't like was the webbed feet. Since Skeletor in the series only wore boots, I didn't think the figures should have had webbed feet. The havoc staff looked great and I really liked the half blue sword that he came with. The only thing I would have added is the matching blue axe that he carried in Diamond Ray of Disappearance.

Skelly was the first MOTU fig I got. It was 1983, I was in the hospital to get my tonsils and adenoids removed and my cousin brought me this wonderful figure one day. He told me to learn all of the characters' names on the back of the card until next time he'd come visit. And that I did

Ahhh, what a cool story! Your story reminded me of when i had them removed. I was a huge fan too when i was a kid and had lots of figures and both castles, but my cousin had Transformers which we always played with when i was at his place. And one day he got Metroplex! That was comparable to He-man's Eternia Playset haha. I loved it! So i wanted to collect Transformers as well, but my mom said i should stick to Motu since i already had collected so much over the past years. But a few weeks later when i had my tonsils removed and woke up in my hospitalbed, my mom gave me a Moc Bumblebee! It was small, but i loved it! and the next day my aunt gave me a Moc Starburst She-ra, which kind of embarrased me because the card was so pink hehe, but secretly i loved her! I mean, she was pretty ánd He-man's sister. You just got to have her! From then on she never left He-man's side. A week or so later i also bought Modulok with some saved money from my rapportcard haha and i was full into the Motu-Mode again, now that She-ra and Modulok joined forces.

Skeletor was the best figure from the original line. I agree that he had the best weapons and accessories. I loved the fact of his original roman belt that went along with his figure. THe only thing I didn't like was the webbed feet. Since Skeletor in the series only wore boots, I didn't think the figures should have had webbed feet. The havoc staff looked great and I really liked the half blue sword that he came with. The only thing I would have added is the matching blue axe that he carried in Diamond Ray of Disappearance.

He also looked awesome on top of Panthor!

I agree, he looked great teamed up with Panthor...

Like Spacedust, Skeletor was the second figure I got as well... This was before the cartoon came on... I loved having he and He-Man battling for control of both halves of the "Power sword".

skeletor!

Often immitated, never improved upon. Other figures and other lines may have had more weapons, more points of articulation, electronic do-dads, released nerve gas, or would change into dogs that you could actually feed...lol